Vetinary Laboratories Agency

Vetinary Medicines Directorate

Douglas Alexander: The written parliamentary statement issued on 3 June on Burma Cyclone Nargis stated that "A total of 20 DFID-funded aid flights have now arrived in Rangoon... All these items have been consigned to the UN, NGOs and the Red Cross." This statement was reflected in replies I gave to Mr. Andrew Mitchell MP and Mr. Kevan Jones MP on 6 June.
	I learned on the evening of 10 June that at the request of Save the Children Fund (SCF) the paperwork for the clearance of its relief goods was handled by a clearing agent. No payment was received by this clearing agent for its service to SCF, and the full extent of the involvement of the clearing agent was to clear the documents for the shipment with the Burmese customs. While the airway bills for these supplies list the clearing agent as the consignee for the goods, the relief goods themselves were transferred directly from the aircraft to SCF's warehouse for onward distribution by SCF or other NGOs.
	The agent the SCF used to clear their goods is a Government business consortium under the name of the National Disaster Preparedness Central Committee (Ngapudaw-Haing Gyi) which includes a company called Shwe Thanlwin Limited. This company and its chairman, U Kyaw Win, are listed in the Annex to the EU common position as "persons who benefit from government economic policies" and are subject to sanctions.
	I have written today to the chief executive of SCF expressing grave concern at SCF's choice of clearing agent and informing them that we will not provide any further relief supplies to them through this clearing agent.
	DFID staff have also re-checked the arrangements for other UK supplies delivered to the World Food Programme, Merlin, Medecins Sans Frontieres and the International Federation of the Red Cross. These organisations are named as the consignee on the Airway Bills and have received all the goods intended for them.
	We continue to monitor the delivery of UK assistance to our UN, NGO and Red Cross partners for the victims of the cyclone.